


White Walls Hold Dark Secrets

by WhiteHawkHarringrove



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Anger Management, Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Brotherly Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Depression, Eating Disorders, F/M, Gay Billy Hargrove, Hurt Steve Harrington, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Hospital AU, Mental Institutions, Nightmares, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Past Sexual Assault, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Dustin Henderson, Protective Steve Harrington, Pyromania, Schizophrenia, Social Anxiety, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Tourette's Syndrome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-03 16:40:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15822849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteHawkHarringrove/pseuds/WhiteHawkHarringrove
Summary: Billy is sent to a mental hospital Hawkins where he meets the party. But he can't seem to get a certain doe-eyed boy out of his mind





	1. Introductions and the Illusive Steve

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all enjoy, let me know what you think!

Billy Hargrove wasn't right in the head. He had known that since his mother died and left him with a father who loathed his entire existence. He had gotten angry and took it out on everyone. He finally realized how bad it had gotten when he blacked out from rage and when he finally came to, he was standing over his biology teacher whose face was now bruised and bleeding. 

This is why he was here, at the front gate of a mental hospital called 'Hawkins'. He had been diagnosed with cyclothymia, a disorder similar to being bipolar, and sent to a mental hospital instead of jail. 

The front gate was at least 12 feet tall, barred with barbed wire at the top. Billy shuddered and clutched his bag close to his chest. There was no one there with him to drop him off except a sheriff. The sheriff buzzed the intercom and said something that Billy wasn't really listening to.

The gate began to swing open, Billy just watched, feeling dread build in the pit of his stomach. The mustached man escorted him through the gates and up to a man in a white coat. 

“You must be Billy Hargrove. I'm Doctor Jim Hopper but everyone just calls me Chief Hopper or just Hopper.” The man told Billy, extending a hand which the blond took cautiously. Hopper waved the sheriff away and led Billy into the building.

“So this is what's going to happen. Security is going to take a look at the items you brought, just as a precaution. After that, I'll show you to your room, you'll have a roommate who will be chosen based on how well you'd get on with each other. Your roommate will then give you a tour of the building, then bring you to Dr. Joyce Byers, the head therapist here to see what medications we should put you on if any. Got all that?” Hopper asked. Billy nodded slightly. He was led into a room. Inside, he gave the guard his backpack of items. The guard took only shoelaces and any other rope-like items. 

“What now?” Billy asked quietly. Hopper grinned at him.

“He speaks!” Hopper joked, “I'm going to put you with a kid called Dustin Henderson, he's 15, he seems like he would be a good match for you.” The guard handed him his backpack and they headed past a set of bars and down a hallway. They stopped in front of room 254. Hopper knocked.

“Who is it?” A voice called from inside.

“It's Hopper, I have a roommate for you,”Hopper called back. The door opened a crack and curly haired kid poked his head out, eyeing Billy.

“Name?” Dustin asked then his head jerked a couple times. 

“Billy,” the boy in question stated. Dustin pushed the door the rest of the way open. 

“Dustin, once Billy is settled, can you please show him around then bring him to Joyce?” Hopper asked. The kid nodded and jerked his head a few more times. “Thanks, kid.”

Hopper closed the door and left Billy and Dustin together. Billy put his bag on the unoccupied bed, taking out his clothes and stuffing them into the drawer by the bed.

“So... why are you here?” Dustin asked, head jerking once. Billy sat on his bed and faced Dustin.

“Let's just say I have anger issues,” Billy told him, “You?”

“Tourettes, my dad got fed up with my tics and sent me here,” Dustin told him. He seemed awfully open about his story. “You ready for your tour?”

“Yeah, lead the way,” Billy replied, following Dustin out into the hallway.

“We basically have free rein here unless it is during group therapy, after curfew or during meal times. I'll take you to the rec room first, most of the patients should be hanging out in there.” Dustin told Billy and jerked a few more times. Billy continued to follow Dustin down the winding hallway until they got to a large room. Billy suddenly felt uncomfortable with the amount of people in the room; Dustin noticed. “Don't worry, it'll be fine.”

With that, Dustin hopped o to of the table in front of them. 

“Hey, shitheads! We have fresh meat!” Dustin announced. Hopper, who was sitting at a table, put his head into his hands. 

“Dustin! What did I say about the language?” Hopper scolded. Dustin just shrugged and turned to Billy, who now had the attention of the other patients. The oldest girl and boy walked up to him. The girl was as thin as a pencil, her hair was cut short to her shoulders and her ice blue eyes seemed to gaze into Billy's soul. The boy, on the other hand, had dark bags under his eyes and he fidgeted a lot.

“I'm Nancy, this is Jonathan,” The girl introduced. Billy gave them a small smile. 

“I'm Billy,” he responded. “If you don't mind me asking, how long have you all been in here? How old are you? I'm 20.” 

“It's not a problem, Billy, any question is a valid question as Joyce says,” Jonathan told Billy. Nancy continued on.

“I've been here for just over a year, I'm 18, Jonathan is 19, he came here 6 months ago, after his brother, who I will get to soon. Dustin you've already met, he came here 4 years ago, he's 15. The one with the permanent frown on his face is Lucas, he's 16, he's been here for 2 years. That really small kid is Will, Jonathan's brother, he's 13, 10 months. The red-haired girl is Maxine but everyone calls her Max, she's 16, she's only been here 2 months. The other girl is Jane, she's 14, she's been here 3 years. And then there's Mike, he's my little brother, he's 15 and he's been here 8 months.” Nancy told Billy, pointing each person out as she named them. Billy saw a small movement, drawing his eyes to the doorway. He saw a pair of wide brown eyes watching him, but the rest of his body was hidden behind the corner. 

“Who's that?” Billy asked, gesturing to the person half hidden behind the wall. Nancy followed his gaze and looked at Billy sadly.

“That's Steve, all we know about him is that he's 20, like you, and he's been here longer than any of us. Dustin is the only patient here who can actually get him to even come out of his room. You must be special, Steve never comes out without Joyce, Hopper, or Dustin,” Nancy told him, nudging his shoulder. Billy kept his eyes on the spot, even after the doe-eyed boy had disappeared, this intrigued the blond.


	2. Steve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy asks Dustin about Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, sorry for the short chapter, I'll try to make the next one longer.
> 
> Y'all can find me on twitter: @WHarringrove, Tumblr: whitehawkharringrove and Pinterest under the same name
> 
> If you follow either my twitter or tumblr, I can you know when new chapters are up

Billy didn't get much time to himself that night, he made the rounds of introductions, and then it was dinner time; they all crowded into the cafeteria. Dustin sat down beside him.

“What's wrong with Steve?” Billy asked Dustin bluntly, looking at the younger boy's food strangely. Dustin poked his food then glanced at Billy.

“You know about Steve?” Dustin asked. Billy nodded, Dustin looked back down and picked his food apart. “He saw you earlier and asked about you. I'm impressed. He actually came out of his room to see you.”

Billy smiled internally.

“So, what's wrong with him?” Billy asked, earning a dark look from Dustin.

“Never ask me that question again. There's nothing wrong with him, he's just a person who bad things have happened to. It's not my story to tell, if you want to know, you'll have to ask him yourself someday,” Dustin told Billy, spitting out the first sentence as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. His neck jerked a few times before he went back to his food.

“When can I ask you something else?” Billy asked, Dustin quirked an eyebrow.

“Depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“Whether or not I want to answer,” Dustin responded, letting out a couple more tics. Billy sighed.

“How long has he been here?” Billy asked softly, the fifteen-year-old let out a long sigh, the tics seemed to be at bay for now. 

“He was in and out of here 12 years ago, it was 10 years ago that he was admitted and just never left. This place became his home. The staff here like Hopper and Joyce are like his family, so am I,” Dustin told Billy reluctantly. Billy accepted this answer, not wanting to press further.


	3. So Maybe I'm Not Okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy meets Joyce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be out of town for a few days so I won't be able to post again until I return

After dinner, Dustin brought Billy to Joyce's office, giving him a look before he left. Billy sat in the chair opposite Joyce, who had a kind smile on her face.

“Hi Billy, nice to meet you. How are you settling in?” Joyce asked, her voice was soft.

“As well as I can be. It's nice to meet you too,” Billy replied politely. Joyce gave him a strange look.

“How's Dustin been? Not too much of a handful I hope,” She chuckled. “I heard him talking to you about Steve earlier this evening. I was just as surprised as he was that Steve asked about you.”

“So I've heard,” Billy said softly, and then to clarify, “He's never asked about anyone else before?”

“Never,” Joyce confirmed. “Now, enough talk about Steve, I want to hear about you.”

“Well, I was in class and my teacher-” 

“No, I know about that. I want to know your story, the events leading up to the incident,” Joyce cut him off but Billy couldn't find in himself to be angry at her. 

“My mom died when I was 16, she had cancer. My dad seemed to hate me after that. Maybe it was because I reminded him of her or maybe it was just because I was there, I don't know.” Billy kept his eyes trained on the floor while he was speaking.

“Did your father ever hit you, Billy?” Joyce asked hesitantly. Billy furrowed his eyebrows.

“Not... not at first. He just drank a lot and was never around. When I was 17, that's when he started... uh... hitting me. It started with a punch to the ribs where he knew it wouldn't show and... uh... I don't know, it just kind of increased from there and I had to start making excuses,” Billy told Joyce, still not looking at her. He could feel her concerned gaze on him.

“Thank you for sharing that with me. You can go now if you'd like. There's a group therapy session tomorrow at 10, you're required to be there but you're not required to talk. Are you okay with that?” Joyce asked the young man. Billy looked up, a single tear running down his face and nodded. 

“Yeah... yeah, that's fine, I'll be there,” Billy said, barely above a whisper. Joyce smiled and got up, squeezing his shoulder gently.

“Never know... maybe I can get Steve to join us,” Joyce said softly, the name made Billy's ears perk up and he looked at the therapist with a strange look, “Yeah, don't think I didn't notice how you were looking at him and how you were talking about him. It looks to me like you've fallen for him... hard.”

With that, Joyce retreated into her back office.

“What a strange person,” Billy mumbled to himself and left the room to go back to Dustin in their room.


	4. Who Is Steve Harrington?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve joins group therapy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only illness I really know about is social anxiety. That's probably the only accurate part because I'm basing Steve's symptoms off of my experiences.

Billy woke up the next morning, looking forward to the group therapy session where he would possibly meet Steve. Billy found it hard to contain his happiness when he had found out that the brunet had asked about him but he managed to keep the emotions to himself.

“You're up! Finally! Happy circle time is in 30 minutes!” Dustin called out to Billy from across the room where he was organizing his stuff. He threw a pillow at Billy's face and the blond grunted from the impact.

“Did I miss breakfast?” Billy asked, yawning. Dustin shook his head.

“Breakfast is later on group therapy days, don't worry,” Dustin replied, letting out a tic. “I hear Steve might be there today.”

“How'd you hear that?” Billy asked, Dustin winked.

“Word travels fast in here,” Dustin replied simply and walked out of the room. Billy got up and showered quickly in the small bathroom connected to their room, then got dressed into the jeans and white tee that he had laid out. This hospital wasn't at all what he had expected, they let him keep and wear his own clothes, most of the patients here wore their own. 

Billy walked briskly into the rec room where chairs had been set up in a circle. He entered at the same time as the doe-eyed brunet that he had only seen once before. There were only 2 seats left in the circle and they were right beside each other. Dustin and Joyce smirked at Billy briefly before the two oldest patients went to sit down. 

Steve was bouncing his leg like crazy, his eyes flicking around the room. Billy noticed this and laid a careful and gentle hand on his knee, causing the leg to slow it's movements almost completely. Steve sent him a small smile.

“Okay! Now that everyone is here, lets go over the rules with our newcomer. No laughing at others' opinions or beliefs, no swearing and the stories shared today will not leave these walls,” Joyce announced. Billy nodded and Joyce turned to the girl sitting next to her who Billy believed was called Max. “Okay, Max, why don't you start us off with the usual introductions, your first and last name, your age, why you're here and your story if you're comfortable sharing.”

“Okay... I'm Maxine Mayfield. I'm 16, and I set fires to feel joy,” Max said, causing a chuckle to sweep over the group. Joyce chuckled but gave her a pointed look. “Fine, I'm a pyromaniac. I was brought here 2 months ago because I was caught trying to burn down my school's cafeteria twice. I had tried on many more occasions though but it turns out that bricks just won't light on fire.”

Joyce nodded her head to the girl next to her.

“I'm Jane Ives, most people call me El, I'm 14. I have schizophrenia, I was brought here when I was found wandering in the woods looking for a place called 'the upside down', I thought I was being chased by someone and I thought I had powers,” El said softly and Joyce gave her a kind smile. The boy beside her fidgeted slightly and grabbed her hand.

“I'm Mike Wheeler, I'm 15 and I have OCD. I'm here because my parents didn't want a kid who had mental problems,” Mike said bitterly.

“Now, Mike, I'm sure that's not true,” Joyce told him. Mike scoffed and turned his face away. The older woman just sighed and moved on. 

“I'm Nancy Wheeler, I'm 18, I'm anorexic. I'm here because my school counselor found out I was throwing up after all of my meals,” Nancy told the group. Billy winced slightly. It was then he noticed that Steve seemed slightly calmer and had even seemed to lean into his touch. 

“I'm Jonathan Byers, no relation to Joyce, I'm 19, this is my brother, Will, he's 13. We're here because we have PTSD, I have a nightmare disorder as well. We were brought here a few months after our parents died in a car wreck,” Jonathan said, gesturing to the small boy beside him that didn't want to talk. 

“I'm Dustin Henderson, you all know who I am and why I'm here so I won't say any more,” Dustin said, smirking at Joyce, who just rolled her eyes and chuckled.

“I'm Lucas Sinclair, I'm 16, I also have OCD, I was brought here because my parents couldn't handle my behavior any more,” Lucas said. They all turned to Billy who sighed.

“I'm William Hargrove but everyone calls me Billy, I'm 20, I have anger issues. I'm here because I beat up my biology teacher and because my dad's a piece of work,” Billy told the group. Joyce looked like she was about to close up introductions when Steve spoke.

“I'm Steve Harrington, I'm 20, I have extreme social anxiety and just anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, I don't want to say much about why I'm here but when I was 10 I tried to kill myself,” Steve said softly, his hand gripping Billy's that was still on his leg. The group looked on in shock, even Dustin, who obviously was surprised that he shared that with the group. 

They talked as a group for about an hour then were released for breakfast. Billy and Steve stayed behind.

“You did good today, Steve, I'm proud of you,” Joyce told Steve as she passed them. Billy and Steve were finally left alone. Steve was still holding Billy's hand.


End file.
